Carving
works of Bui Van Tu, which are exquisite and beautifully crafted, win the heart
of customers.
Graduating from high school in 2002, Tu chose
not to go to university and enrolled in Ha Nam Intermediate Vocational School
(now Ha Nam Vocational College), where he learned carving.
After many years of studying and working at the
same time, he earned some money and decided to return to his hometown to start
his career. In 2010, he rent land to open a wood carving shop under the name Tu
Tam. He borrowed capital to invest in machinery, and searched for materials
supply sources by himself. Initially, due to a lack of new and diverse designs,
the workshop did not draw many customers. However, he did not give up. He spent
time to find new ideas to produce unique products and diversify designs. Thanks
to the efforts, more and more customers came to Tu’s workshop to place their
orders.
On average, his workshop has between 20 and 30
orders per month. The products are also diverse, depending on the requirements
of customers. Prices of the products also varies from several millions VND to
hundreds of millions of VND. A statue of Maitreya or the Goddess of Mercy may
cost from 40-50 million VND, while a salon carved from an old tree stump can be
priced at 150 million VND. Each year, his workshop completes than 200 orders
for customers in and outside the province, earning a monthly income of 30-35
million VND.
Tu said that so far, he has trained many youngsters
in the commune and neighbouring areas in wood carving, while creating stable
jobs for 5-7 skilled workers with a wage from 4.5-8 million VND per month.
In order to further develop the workshop and establish
a position in the market, thus creating jobs for more labourers, in recent
years, Bui Van Tu has learnt new designs through the media to put into
production, meeting the demand of customers. Therefore, "Tu Tam” carving
products can satisfy even choosy customers./.